Cricket / Saransh Jain Makes Debut as India Bat First in 2nd Test

Colombo, Aug 23: India handed a maiden Test cap to off-spin bowling all-rounder Saransh Jain as skipper Shubman Gill won the toss and opted to bat first against Sri Lanka at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) Ground on Sunday. India lead the two-match series 1–0 after their 165-run victory in Galle.

Gill confirmed that Jain replaced Kuldeep Yadav, who missed out due to an infection. In the team huddle, the Indore-based cricketer received his debut cap from senior all-rounder Ravindra Jadeja.

Assessing the conditions, Gill said, “It looks like a much harder, much better surface compared to Galle. Galle was also a very good wicket, but as the game went on, it got a little bit slower and the ball started to turn. We're expecting the same, but for the first two or three days, I think it'll be a really good wicket to bat on.”

Also read: Spin Showdown Looms as India Look for Series Sweep against Sri Lanka

Reflecting on India’s opening win, Gill rated it highly but admitted room for improvement. “I would say probably a nine (out of ten for the win in Galle), because there's always room for improvement. We played a pretty good match, a decent match. Obviously there were some areas where we could have got a little bit better, but this is Test cricket. It's very, very difficult to have a near-perfect game because you're playing for five days. But overall we had a pretty good match.”

Sri Lanka captain Dhananjaya de Silva announced debuts for Kamil Mishara and Pasindu Sooriyabandara, the latter having earlier featured as a concussion substitute in Galle.

He said, “Yes, of course, as Shubman said, it's quite harder than Galle. I thought it's good for batting, and I don't mind it bowling because, with cloud covers, maybe we can strike early and put them under pressure. When batting, not losing wickets early, keep the scoreboard ticking and get runs on the board.”

Playing XIs:

India: Yashasvi Jaiswal, KL Rahul, Devdutt Padikkal, Shubman Gill (captain), Rishabh Pant (wk), Ravindra Jadeja, Dhruv Jurel, Saransh Jain, Manav Suthar, Mohammed Siraj, and Prasidh Krishna.

Sri Lanka: Lahiru Udara, Kamil Mishara, Pasindu Sooriyabandara, Kamindu Mendis, Dhananjaya de Silva (captain), Sonal Dinusha, Niroshan Dickwella (wk), Keshara Nuwantha, Prabath Jayasuriya, Lahiru Kumara, and Asitha Fernando.

(IANS)